Diabolus Nobomenu
by Taka-Kumi
Summary: Seven months after Devil May Cry, Dante goes missing. His partner Trish, does some investigating at the scene he disappeared at. Full Summary inside
1. And so it begins

This chapter is written by Kay. Plot by Kay and Andy... 

Seven months after Devil May Cry 1, Dante goes missing. (DMC1 Dante.) His partner Trish, does some investigating at the scene he disappeared at... and finds out that Dante has been sucked into an alternate reality, his replacement... an evil version of Dante.

After battling with the evil Dante, a wounded Trish returns to their office, and using her demonic knowledge in the occult, offers a sacrifice to the Statue of the Watcher of Time... Her wish is granted... and she receives the help she needs. 

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry © Capcom and Team Little Devil. We are not getting any money for this, don't sue us!

Chapter I:

And so it begins…

Dante had been gone for two days. A simple mission, a few stray demons, not enough work for two as Dante himself had said. So why the hell had he been gone for two days? Trish absentmindedly played with the pendant around her neck as she paced the 'office' of Devil Never Cry. It was the pendant that Dante's mother had split between her twin boys before dying. Eva was the woman that she was modeled after, her partner's mother.

Walking around the desk, she sat in Dante's chair and began to look through the files that had piled upon it the last two days. She had refused to even look at the missions, her mind was solely on her missing partner. Trish shoved the stack of papers off the desk in one sweep of her arm, sending the papers to float softly to the floor. Rummaging through the drawers she came upon the mission statement she was looking for, the mission Dante had left on. There was no name, which alone should've made her suspicious to begin with if she had even set eyes on it. Dante had picked it up, read it over and told her he'd be back by dinnertime. Trish mentally kicked herself for not being more persistent in her argument about going, if she had Dante would most likely not be missing. Looking at the address, she noted sourly that it was the Love Planet; the old strip club and whorehouse not far from their shop.

Trish grabbed her jacket, and armed herself. Sparda was strapped to her back, with Luce and Ombra at her sides. Whatever had happened to Dante, she sure as Hell was going to find out. She'd willingly walk into the maw of Hell to save her partner, and Trish wasn't so sure it wouldn't come to that.

O.O.O.O.O.O

The blonde woman found Love Planet easily enough. The windows were bashed in, graffiti painted all over the building and not a soul in sight. It was as good a place to start looking as any. Trish began to pick through the debris in hopes of finding anything related to Dante. She noted that the place appeared to have been home to a battle recently, knowing that it encouraged her to think this was the place where Dante had been. Overturning trashcans, destroying entire piles of rubble, Trish became disheartened. Not a sign of what had happened to Dante was here.

She resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to enter Love Planet. Trish kicked open the door and made her way to the showroom. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt a familiar aura, yet the aura was corrupted and twisted. Her eyes roamed the area to spot the anomaly when a cruel laugh reached her ears. Trish's sight settled on the balcony where the two staircases met. Standing there was her partner, with Alastor resting in his hand. The sheer amount of wickedness that was radiating off this… thing, posing as her partner was immense.

"Well, well, well… looks like the little bitch has finally come looking for her poor Dante." The being chuckled, "Sorry babe, but he's preoccupied right now. I'm his fill-in, a… Dark Dante, if you will."

Dark Dante swiftly jumped from the balcony and landed gracefully in front of her, Alastor tapping idly against his shoulder. Trish was frozen in place, his speed was amazing. She hadn't even had time to react from the twitching of his legs to his landing. Dark Dante walked around her, appraising her with his eyes and whistled. "Not bad, babe. Too bad I have to get rid of you."

This time Trish was prepared for his movements, rolling out of the way and bringing Luce and Ombra to bear on the imposter. She fired several rounds into his chest as he stood there. Another laugh rumbled from his mouth as the wounds healed themselves almost immediately. He charged her, laughing the entire time. Trish flipped over his head, firing again and again with her guns. Dark Dante whipped around, catching her in the gut with Alastor and sending her crashing into a wall. Trish groaned and lost her grip on the two guns she had. That one was going to leave a mark for sure. Dark Dante tsk-tsk'd her, and walked casually to her. Squatting down in front of her, he traced Trish's jaw with his finger.

"Such a pretty face. It really is a shame you're so loyal to him." Dark Dante murmured.

Trish saw a weakness in him now, and she was going to play it for all it was worth. She leaned forward, letting Sparda fall to the ground beside her. Placing her left hand on his face she smiled gently at him. "I am a demon, after all. I can be persuaded to switch sides if the perks are worth it."

Dark Dante closed his eyes, leaning into her touch. "Oh, they're worth it. It'd be just you and me, babe. Doing whatever the Hell we wanted."

In one swift movement, Trish grabbed Sparda with her free hand and shoved the sword through Dark Dante's stomach and into his spinal cord. His eyes opened wide, and he tried to speak. Black ichor oozed from his mouth, which she took to be blood, as he gasped in agony. "Sorry. But my partner is the _real _Dante, Son of Sparda. No one can replace him, and no offer made would make me betray him."

Dark Dante's form wavered and disappeared, leaving Sparda to clang to the floor once more. It had been a helluva night, but Trish had come out the victor.

O.O.O.O.O.O

Trish stumbled into Devil Never Cry, clutching at the gash across her abdomen and leaving droplets of blood trailing behind her. She weakly pushed open the closet full of medical supplies. She remembered how she had laughed at Dante for having it, but she was silently thanking him for it now. Grabbing bandages, sterile pads, anti-septic wash and tape she made her way back to Dante's desk. Trish gently removed her shirt to inspect the wound. It was a nasty cut, to be sure, but she'd live… She had to. "Damn."

Trish rinsed the cut out with the anti-septic wash but the blood kept flowing too much for her to bandage it up. A growl escaped her lips in annoyance. Her eyes cut to the fire that was still burning, then over to the fire poker. She stumbled forward, grabbed the poker and shoved it into the fireplace. Pulling the red-hot poker out of the fire she gritted her teeth and ran it over her wound to cauterize it. Taking the poker away from her skin, she examined the wound once more. Letting out the breath she had been holding she was glad the bleeding had stopped, but knew it was going to leave a scar.

"War wound." She muttered.

Trish then bandaged herself up and put on another shirt. Opening a cupboard she began grabbing black candles, chalk and a brazier. Placing the brazier in the center of the room and placing the candles around it, Trish began drawing symbols. Dante told me he hated messes on the floor. He'll forgive me, I'm going to save his ass again, aren't I? What's a little blood and chalk between friends.

She lit the brazier and began chanting, over and over. "Luminarium. Atrum. Vita. Letum. Excitate vow e somno, surgite."

Finally sitting herself down on the floor near the brazier, she began drawing more symbols with her hands in the air. Trish then called upon the Watcher of Time. "Great Watcher of Time, I call upon you in this time of need. My partner, the Son of Sparda, has been taken from this land. I request that you bring me help from the past and future, and show me which way he lies."

An eerie voice asked, "What is the offering?"

"Twenty-five thousand red orbs." She shouted.

"Not enough…"

"Damn." Trish growled before answering, "As well as five years of my life."

"Your sacrifice is accepted. Your wish is granted." The Watcher replied, a small chuckle following.

Trish barely had time to grab Sparda and her guns, Luce and Ombra, before she was whisked away by the powers of the Watcher.

O.O.O.O.O.O

She soon became aware of her new surrounding, and she was greatly puzzled by what she saw. Before her was what appeared to be a ghost town. Off to her right, seemed to be a castle with no visible access from the ground. "Damn."

A bell tower and a church caught her attention, as they were in the center of town. The tower had an aura of dread about it. "Good a place as any to start." She murmured.

Trish's eyes roamed the city as she made her way to the church and bell tower. The place looked like a ghost town, which after a thought, it probably did have it's fair share of ghostly apparitions considering the eerie feel of the town. She passed several buildings on her way to the church, as she passed one a noise alerted her to the fact that she really wasn't alone in this town. It seemed that Dante had rubbed off on her for she threw caution to the wind, readied Luce and Ombra, kicking in the door. A ghastly figure greeted her, and it almost appeared to be human. A slight demonic aura emanated from the figure and Trish's demon-hunting instincts kicked in, her guns unloading rapidly into the thing's chest. It fell to the floor with a soft thud, not putting up a fight at all. She stepped over to the corpse to inspect it. Trish's earlier assessment had been correct, it had most certainly been human at some point, but had obviously been corrupted long ago. It smelled foul, as if the very flesh had been decaying since its assumption of the demonic aura.

Trish was startled from her musings by a loud crash outside which was followed by an even louder screech. Before she could react, a body was flung through the fall and into the building. The body, which was a red-haired woman, coughed once and righted herself.

"Who the Hell are you?" Trish asked in surprise.

"I could ask the same of you." The red-haired woman replied.


	2. Aggravated Assault

Kay's author notes: Thanks so much to Sin Oan, Fox Soul and destructo888 for reviewing the first chapter of Diabolus Nobomenu. This story originally started out as a forum roleplay, but we're excited to bring it to you in fanfiction form. I'll be writing the second chapter, even though we were supposed to be switching off every other chapter. XD Andy's being a chicken wuss (I love you, Andy XP), on the pretense of him not wanting to "ruin the flow" of what I've started. -giggle- He'll be writing the next chapter though! Kya ha ha ha!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry © Capcom and Team Little Devil. We are not getting any money for this, don't sue us!

Chapter II:

Aggravated Assault

(Dante's POV until scene change)

I opened one eye slowly as I came to, shutting it again almost immediately when all I saw was lights dancing in the darkness. Assessment number one: my head hurts like Hell. Assessment two: this place smells like a combination of mold and damp earth. Three: I need to get out of here… wherever _here _is. As I sat up, I realized that whomever had captured me was smarter than your average bad guy. My sword and guns were missing. I heard myself groan, though it sounded odd to my ears. My head was foggy beyond belief. Damn it, maybe Trish was right about coming along. Getting up, I used the wall for support as the door cracked open. The silhouette was definitely that of a male figure, and he was carrying a sword. My sword! A snap of his fingers, and the torches lit themselves. Standing in the room was me, well not _just_ me… but another me too. What the Hell? The other me laughed, at my confusion, obviously. Bad guys tend to do that. It annoys the shit out of me.

"Nice sword, by the way. I think I'll keep it." He snickered, "Your little bitch caught me off guard, but I won't happen again. I'll slice up that pretty little face of hers."

Now I was the one laughing this time, I knew just whom he was talking about. "Sorry to disappoint, but Trish is no one's bitch. She's my partner, and she'll kick your ass whether you're expecting it or not."

Shouldn't have tried to talk, it just made my head hurt worse. There had to be something about this place that was dampening my senses.

"Like it? It was made especially to keep you in check, Dante. Don't want you to ruin our party after all." Going beyond annoying the shit out of me… "Well, have to run. I do so enjoy seeing you suffer, but our guests have arrived and they're going to suffer just as much as you are."

He left, snapping his fingers again to dim the lights. Assessment number four: I have found someone that gets under my skin more than Vergil. From our little chat, I gathered that Trish was still alive and that she was coming after me… _if _she knew where I am. It was so much easier when I didn't have a partner, no one to worry about but myself… Damn it. They might be able to catch Trish just as easily as they did me. But the other me said guests, as in plural. Who could Trish have found to help her? Was she already here? Now that makes me wonder how long I'd been out.

I felt along the wall to my right, the place was old and in great disrepair. The wall, which was nothing more than dirt and old stone, crumbled a bit as my fingers touched it. I snapped my fingers in agitation. The torches lit.

"Ooh-kay. One problem solved." I mumbled, trying my strength on the bars. It was no use, my strength was zapped by whatever was containing my powers. If there's one feeling I hate more than worrying about someone, it's the feeling of helplessness. "Damn it, Trish. Hurry."

O.O.O.O.O.O

(With Trish)

Before either woman could respond, the wall exploded, showering them with stone, wood and whatever else the building was made of. Through the caved in wall, a gigantic beak tried to bite its way in. The avian beast made an even bigger hole, and Trish pulled out Luce and Ombra. Taking potshots at it, forcing the beast to back away from the opening so they could have a more advantageous battle ground. Trish started forward when the redhead called to her.

"What?" Trish asked, keeping a weary eye on the beast.

"Lucia, my name is Lucia." She replied.

"Trish. Now let's show this dodo who's the boss around here."

The women made it outside, and set to work quickly. Lucia dashed under the flying demon while Trish kept it busy with her guns. The bullets weren't doing much more than annoy it, but that allowed Lucia to come up from behind it and jump onto it, hacking away with her cutlassers at the exposed back. Trish put Luce and Ombra away, pulling Sparda from her back when Lucia had made it. Floating up to a level equal to the bird's head, she slashed with Sparda. It screeched at her and tried to bash at her with its head. Lucia had crawled to its neck just in time, stabbing it in the eye. Trish noticed a silvery-haired man walking casually toward them, wearing a red coat. Her heart leapt to her throat when he lifted his head, a smirk planted cockily on his face. It most certainly wasn't the Dante she knew… he was too young, but it was Dante none the less. At least it wasn't Dark Dante.

The younger Dante whistled, catching the women's, as well as the avian demon's, attentions. "Looks like you ladies are having one Hell of a party. Mind if I just invite myself?" He asked, laughing.

Without waiting for a reply, Dante jumped into the air. The women flung themselves away from the beast as Dante, in one deft motion, drew Rebellion and decapitated the beast. Trish and Lucia landed as the thing fell to the ground and Dante stood coolly in triumph… until a glob of glob splattered his shoulder.

"Damn it, not in front of ladies!" He growled.

"Dante?" Lucia and Trish asked at the same, then looked at each other.

Dante looked between the two suspiciously, "Now, I know I'm a popular guy but I don't remember meeting either of you. Though… now that I think about it." Dante murmured, stalking over to Trish. "Blondie, you sure look familiar."

That was when he caught sight of the pendant around her neck. One very much like the one around his own neck, except hers was whole. He looked her in the eye, and finally realized why she looked familiar. He pointed an accusing finger at her, "Where did you get that pendant… and why the Hell do you look like my mother?!"

Trish winced, but complied. "You gave it to me. And I was constructed in Eva… your mother's appearance." She looked at him pointedly, "Satisfied?"

"Maybe." He said, changing his to Lucia instead. "And how do I know you?"

"You helped to save my villages, together we defeated many a foe." Lucia replied, "We mean you no harm… though I do not why I am here."

Trish watched them talking, knowing she would have to explain. "Let's find a more suitable place for us to discuss this. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not stand around talking in front of a demon's corpse."

"What?" Dante snickered, "Feelin' sick?"

The blonde resisted rolling her eyes, she was glad that Dante had matured immensely by the time she had met him. "No, I've seen and killed worse. It just makes us look suspicious if more 'visiters' find us."

"Trish is right, we must leave while the body dissipates back to the planes. That is... if we are not on the very planes, ourselves." Lucia replied.

They continued to travel closer to the center of town, following the blonde's lead. The cathedral loomed, menacing and imposing even for the three of them. Gargoyles seemed to follow their every move as they drew nearer the building. A wrought-iron gate barred their entrance into the cathedral, multiple locks showing on the gate itself. Trish pulled out the rusted key she had noticed earlier, and stepped forward to fit it into one of the locks. It fit, so she turned it while the other two watched. The lock made a _chink _sound and the key itself disappeared. Trish turned to her companions and smiled. "You two wouldn't happen to have keys?"

After some looking, both Dante and Lucia produced keys of their own and placed them into the locks. There was only one problem: there was one more lock that needed to be opened. One more key to be found, which meant there was yet another person that the Watcher of Time had summoned to help save Dante. Up until now they had found each other quickly, but the town was quite large. Not to mention they didn't know whom they were looking for. Someone from the past, or the future? That was rather disturbing.

"Heh, guess there's still one more loser left out there, huh?" Dante asked, snickering. He stopped snickering when Trish sent him a glare. "Damn, mom used to look at me like that when I'd knock something over. That's just freaky."

"It seems that we must find our other companion, or I fear we may not be able to complete our task." Lucia looked at Trish, "Which I am wondering what our task is, per say."

"Finding Dante. No, not _you_." Trish corrected seeing the younger Dante open his mouth. "The Dante that I know, my partner."

"Okay, so lemme get this straight. You're trying to save older me… but how did I end up here?" Dante asked.

"I summoned the Watcher of Time to bring me assistance in finding Dante, that is where you and Lucia come in." Trish supplied, "I did not expect the Watcher to bring a younger version of the man that I am saving into the plot. The Watcher has a very strange sense of humor."

O.O.O.O.O.O

Dark Dante watched their gathering from a mirror in a luxuriant room. They were a rather amusing lot to be entertained by, especially the younger Dante with his cocky attitude. It will be far more amusing to rip them limb from limb and feed them to hungry demons, awaiting fresh souls to devour. "I wonder if I can find their other companion before they do?" He asked aloud. He laughed, and stepped through the mirror.


	3. The Missing Link

Kay's A/N: Okay, so I was the one to edit (upon Andy's request) this chapter, and I added a bit at the end. Thanks Fox soul for reviewing again!

Andy's A/N: Thanks for the great reviews everyone, Kay did a fantastic job on the first two chapters. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic at all, so I wrote most of this chapter, but had Kay go over it to edit it and add what she thought was needed so it would flow easier with her first two chapters. I hope you guys like it, LOL! I'm really nervous about the feedback, but anxious to hear them as well.

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry © Capcom and Team Little Devil. We are not getting any money for this, don't sue us!

Chapter 3: The Missing Link.

It had been naught but one human day on Earth since Vergil's fight with Dante in the Temen-Ni-Gru. Where the fight had gotten him; was lost. He had accepted defeat, and fell into hell, where he belonged. He had no sense of time, it had felt like a year… time moved much more differently here than on Earth. He had grown very powerful, a formidable foe to face, for sure.

He was in the midst of battle, fighting against none-other than the minions of Mundus, the self proclaimed Emperor of the Underworld. Vergil had sworn to take up the throne when he got past these damn minions, and he admitted to himself that they were tough… but they were nothing against him, not even in groups.

Then everything went black, and he was almost convinced that one of them had killed him… but his eyes began to open slowly… why was he still alive? No, he had not been killed to begin with… he was taken here… but for what reason? The questions kept his brain occupied, but he answers would have to come later.

It was dark here… too dark. It didn't take long for his eyes to adjust to this pitch-blackness, he was half demon after all. As this happened, his senses were slowly becoming aware of a world around him… he was surrounded by devils… but they were unmoving, and frozen in place.

As he stood the figures all turned towards him, he froze cautiously, and then, they all stopped, as if caught… Marionettes they were; the puppet demons were blinder in this dark than he was, but they still had sound to track and follow him with, every breath he took had to be watched or he would be overcome by the swarm of them. He had to annihilate them all to get out.

Luckily he still had Yamato on his being. A small smirk forming at the corner of his mouth as he unsheathed the blade, the small scrape of steel from the movement sending a motion through the horde of Marionettes. The clanking of their wood possessed bodies and their own blades drawing as they turned towards him coming to life.

He would draw the blade of Yamato fully out of its sheath, as they enclosed quickly. He used a twist of his body to spiral the sword and slash them down, killing those it touched, and knocking the rest away to give himself room, where he began to massacre them all in a frenzy. He escaped with nary a scratch. "Unworthy of my time." He spoke into the darkness.

He felt his ways all about the room's perimeter searching for some form of a door, but none such thing existed, not even a hatch in the enclosed area. He would have to find another way out, one not as easy as merely opening a door… he would have to make his own escape.

"So unsatisfactory in their accommodations… couldn't they have found a better room for me, at least one with more of a challenge." He broke the silence as he drew back his fist to punch a hole through the wall. Pulling back his arm from the hole he created, his eyes stung as light broke the darkness… he would then kick at the wall, making it fall as the bricks broke and crumbled under his blows.

"Much better." He spoke walking out into the light of day, he drew in a breath, the air was stale here… but it was much better than in that dust-filled tomb he escaped from. Vergil would look around… he appeared to be in some sort of Ghost Town, all seemed abandoned and left unkempt, and not a soul wandered on the dirt roads of the settlement.

He was quite the mess despite how he usually kept himself, well groomed and well dressed. In hell he had abandoned his trademark trench coat of blue as well as his black vest, and white button up undershirt, having been torn to shreds by the more challenging foes of hell, revealing a torso of bruises and gashes, that were healing very quickly. His leather pants remained in a good condition however.

His hair was still spiked up, yet a strand of white bangs had fallen over an eye. His icy glare swept the still landscape, assessing his situation and whereabouts. He left Yamato in its sheath as he saw no immediate threat and he looked far to the west of his location to spot a very gloomy gothic cathedral. "Perhaps my answers will be found there." He told himself, walking quick to his location… voices met his ear, and some of them sounded familiar.

As he rounded the corner he would stop to find the man who had sent him down to hell. Eyes met. "Fancy meeting you here… didn't think I'd ever see you again. Want to explain to me what I'm doing here?" He spoke.

His face remained an apathy that would not break… that was, until his eyes lay fixated upon the blonde woman… who looked near… no, _exactly_ like his mother. His eyes broke their cold glacial status, to one of surprise, and his face that once was set as stone turned into one of shock. "…You…"

Instead of asking her, he turned back towards Dante for an answer. "Who is this woman, and why is she impersonating Eva?" He said almost aggravated, yet more disturbed, at not being able to bring himself to speak the words Mother, or Mom. He could tell by scent alone that this was not his mother. An imposter she was, he would just as soon cut her down with Yamato than look upon her form, it was a painful reminder.

"I demand explanations, before I change my mind." He spoke, and then the redhead stepped out of the trio to calm him down. "We are all as confused as you are, but Trish holds an explanation to us all being summoned here. She can tell you better than he can."

He nodded, "Well then… _Trish. _I don't trust any of you, not even you, Dante…" He glanced towards his twin. "But if I want my answers I suppose I must." He averted his gaze back to Trish, much calmer now. "First of all, I'd like you to explain why you look identical to my mother, and don't tell me she had a twin too. After that, I'd like you to tell me why I'm here, and why he is here with me."

Trish stared at the man who looked so much like Dante. So this was Vergil, the brother Dante rarely spoke of. "I look like Eva because I was fashioned in her image. As you've probably noticed, I'm a demon not a human like your mother. I was created in order to lure Dante into fighting Mundus." The blonde laughed, "Mundus didn't figure in Dante's personal effects on me and I turned against him."

The blonde walked toward the twin and looked him square in the eye, "You are here because I asked the Watcher of Time for help in finding my partner. It seems that the Watcher has a very cruel sense of humor, I fear that knowing your past with Dante you won't be willing to help us find him. I assume you have a key on you somewhere, which is what we need to gain entrance into this cathedral."

Vergil knew he had the key in his pocket, but wasn't willing to let them know that. "Why should I help you? I may be stuck in Hell, but it really isn't a challenge for someone as skilled as I am. Now my _brother_," He spat out the word in disgust, "Is trapped by a demon of some sort, obviously none of you know what it is exactly…"

Dante stepped forward menacingly, but Trish held out an arm to stop him from coming closer. "You can go back to whatever pit of Hell the Watcher pulled you from, but I want that key." She said, her eyes narrowed.


End file.
